California: Pleasant Hill residents ordered to shelter indoors

 

Emergency officials in Contra Costa County, California, issued a shelter-in-place order on the afternoon of Friday, June 26, 2026, after a hazardous chemical release near Pleasant Hill. The Contra Costa Fire Protection District activated the protocol around 5:34 p.m. local time, following reports of a leak that posed an immediate...

United States tech selloff wipes out Musk trillionaire status

 

In the United States, SpaceX shares have fallen sharply only weeks after the company’s record-breaking initial public offering. SpaceX went public on June 12, 2026 on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, raising about $75 billion at an initial price of $135 per share and debuting at a valuation near...

Washington DC pool guarded after vandalism claims

 

WASHINGTON — The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., has been placed under heavy security following a failed multimillion-dollar rehabilitation project and subsequent claims of vandalism. As of Saturday, June 27, National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police have surrounded the landmark, erecting chain-link fences and posting warning signs...

United States partially restores access to Anthropic model

 

Washington, United States – The U.S. government has partially lifted its recent ban on Anthropic's advanced Claude Mythos 5 artificial intelligence model, authorizing its use by more than 100 "trusted" U.S. organizations. In a letter dated Friday, June 26, 2026, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick informed Anthropic’s chief compute officer, Tom...

United States retailer exits bankruptcy as Exemplar Luxury

 

United States-based Saks Global, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, officially exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, June 26, 2026, and rebranded as Exemplar Luxury Group (ELG). The emergence capped a five-month court-supervised restructuring that sharply reduced the company’s leverage and reshaped its role...

United States firms explore SpaceX-Charter mobile partnership

 

SpaceX has held executive-level discussions with Charter Communications about a potential partnership to launch a direct-to-consumer mobile phone service in the United States, according to people familiar with the matter. The confidential talks, reported Friday, June 26, 2026, would leverage Charter’s extensive ground-based internet and Wi-Fi infrastructure to support traffic...

Arizona wildfire threatens Oak Creek Canyon communities

 

SEDONA, Arizona – Fire crews in northern Arizona are working to reinforce fire lines around the Pocket Fire as a critical three-day Red Flag Warning begins, raising the risk of rapid spread. As of June 26, 2026, the wildfire has burned 1,467 acres in Oak Creek Canyon, about seven miles...

United States regulators hit by massive NAIC cyberattack

 

The United States National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) confirmed on June 26, 2026 that it suffered a major cyberattack attributed to the ShinyHunters cybercriminal group. ShinyHunters claims to have stolen 3.1 terabytes of sensitive data from NAIC systems, raising concerns across the U.S. financial and insurance sectors about exposure...

Washington, DC: Trump unveils anti-communist campaign strategy

 

In Washington, D.C. on June 26, 2026, President Donald Trump delivered a keynote address at the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference, outlining a new campaign strategy ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Speaking to religious conservatives at the Washington Hilton, he labeled Democrats “godless communists” and cited...

Wichita hit by flash floods as torrential rains submerge vehicles

 

Wichita, Kansas, faced a localized flash flood emergency on Friday, June 26, 2026, as a severe weather system brought torrential rain over already saturated ground. Urban drainage systems were overwhelmed, turning major streets and underpasses into deep waterways and leaving multiple vehicles completely submerged. Emergency dispatch centers fielded numerous calls...